On Wednesday evening there was a decent turnout from the club for the 29th running of the BHAA Trinity Track races. Two distances were on offer, 800m and 2,000m, and the races were broken down into standards, so that in principle everyone was competing against his or her own peer group and everyone, therefore, had a chance to win. We ended up with several podium places as a consequence.

There was a bit of a wind in Dublin that evening, but the grass track in the university is relatively well-sheltered, so that runners would not have felt it much. The weather was otherwise dry and quite warm. In other words it was perfect for track racing. Times were not so important as everyone would have expected to run slower on a grass track than a tartan and it was generally felt that the difference over 800m would be in the region of 3-5 secs. Mike McGovern took on the role of starter for the night.

The first event incorporated standards 14-30 among the women and the race with a large field was won from gun to tape convincingly by Rachel Yorke who thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Rachel finished in a time of 2:46.8. Mairead Cashman also ran and placed 14th in 3:49.0. In the women’s standards 1-13 800m, Niamh Boland was able to latch on to another runner who broke away from the start and duly finished in second place, well clear of the field in a time of 2:21.7. Until the last 250m Catherine Thornton was leading a group of pursuers and hung on well to place 4th in 2:34.5, with Niamh Aspell hard on her heels in 5th place in 2:36.3 and Dee Ni Chearbhaill a little further back in 8th place in 2:56.0.

For the men there were at least 5 races run for the 800m. In standards 8-9, Niall McGeorge put on a great display to win the race in 2:23.6, followed by Philip Matthews in 7th (2:42.0). Despite running in the 2nd lane for most of the race, Luke Haran put on a similar display in the 800m for standards 10-11, taking 2nd place in 2:30.4. The next race was for standards 12-13 and we had 3 runners in the large field. Denis Murphy put in an excellent effort in the last lap to place 4th in 2:37.4, followed by Brendan Glynn (7th in 2:42.7) and Robbie Moore (14th in 2:50.8). Gearoid Grogan also ran well in standards 17-21, coming home in 2nd place in 2:34.7, whilst Paul Kelly took 5th place in 3:35.8 in his race for the 22-30 standards.

Several went on to run in the 2,000m on the wonderful grass surface. Niamh Boland managed to beat her opponent from the 800m with a convincing win in 7:07.1, followed by Catherine Thornton who was on the tail of the previous victor right up until the last 300m, finishing in 3rd place (7:23.0). Dee Ni Chearbhaill also decided to give it a go and placed 6th in 8:13.0. We had 2 runners in the standards 14-30, with Kate Murray’s fresh legs helping her to take 2nd place in 8:26.5 and Mairead Cashman who took 10th in a time of 10:41.7.

Luke Haran placed 7th in his race (standards 10-11) in 7:36.7, whilst in the next race (12-13), Denis Murphy placed 6th in 7:49.5, Brendan Glynn was 9th in 7:55.6 and Robbie Moore 12th in 8:03.2. Gearoid Grogan missed the race for his standard and so competed in a higher standard (14-16), managing to win the event in a time of 7:38.4. Finally, Paul Kelly, put himself on the podium with a 3rd place finish in his race (standards 22-30) in 9:50.3.

There was also an IMRA league race around Djouce that evening. Jason Kehoe distinguished himself by winning the event that was on a course marked as moderately difficult over a distance of 9.8km and a climb of 580m. Jason’s time was 54:02 and he led home 175 other competitors in the race, most notably including at least 8 other Crusaders. Warren Swords was next in 14th place (58:47) and he was followed by John McAuley (19th in 1:00:36), Brian McGuckin (20th in 1:00:43), Brian Leonard (24th in 1:03:17), John Fahy, a sometime mountaineer (37th in 1:06:48), Laura Flannelly (46th overall, 6th female, in 1:09:33), Ali Onur Uyar (65th in 1:12:33) and Berndt Heim (160th in 1:40:09).

On Thursday night in windy conditions Brendan Glynn (a glutton for punishment!), Paul Kelly, Liam Lyster, Darina Scully and Lorraine Healy, who trains with the club, went up to Drogheda to take part in the 4th graded meet in the Lourdes stadium. In the 800m mixed C standard race, Lorraine ran 2:32.6 for 7th place, with Brendan two places back in 2:39.4. Paul ran in the D standard, placing 13th in 3:26.1. In the first of two events, Liam took part in the mixed 200m C standard race, taking 4th place in 29.90. Following that, he went on to compete in the shot put, but as the only competitor in the 5kg event he was never going to lose it. Like Liam, Paul also went on to run in the 200m (mixed F standard), finishing in 2nd spot in a time of 33.27. Finally, in the mixed 3,000m race, Darina Scully took 4th place in a time of 12:47.62.

Also, on Thursday, we had runners in the 3rd races of the Born 2 Run series. This time the event moved on to Newbridge House near Swords. In the 10K race on a largely flat course Jim Stagg placed 2nd in a field exceeding 100 runners in a time of 38:09, whilst in a field of approx. 80 runners we had two runners in the 5K. Iseult Ni Chuinneagain took 39th place overall (15th female) in 28:44, whilst Ciara McElligott placed 57th overall, 27th female, in 32:26.

On a warm and sultry Friday night Susan Walsh went on to provide live commentary for the annual Dublin Pride 5K race taking place in the Phoenix Park around the 15 Acres area. We only appear to have had one competitor in the 542-strong race: Dominick Branigan placed 3rd in a time 18:16.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the Irish Runner 5 mile race on Saturday morning that took place mostly in the northern section of the Phoenix Park, thereby cutting out most of the hills around the Military Road and the Chapelizod Gate. The race used to be part of the Dublin race Series, but has now become a solo effort by the magazine, largely because numbers have been falling in recent years. Indeed, Saturday’s edition may well have seen its lowest total of finishers yet, with fewer than 2,000. Despite that, in sunny, warm and windy conditions, the race enjoyed a quality field and, appropriately, despite the presence of our two almost-resident Kenyans who tend to win a lot these days, Peter Somba and Freddie Sittuk, who placed respectively 5th and 6th, the top 3 male places went to household Irish runners: Kevin Maunsell, Sean Hehir (who put in a great run in the last half mile to grab 2nd place) and John Coughlan.

The course was most interesting, allowing spectators to see the runners several times and not too hilly either, except for the sharp left turn off the Fairy Glen onto the Upper Glen Road. The wind, however, seemed to be in runner’s faces when it came to uphill sections. The start of the race was delayed by about 13 minutes, because of a surprise visit being paid to Aras an Uachtarain just at the moment the race was due to start, one of the hazards of a Phoenix Park event.

We had a great turnout for the race with at least 22 participants, to such an extent that the commentator at the finish, having seen so many Crusaders cross the line in the first 100 or so finisher,s felt bound to ask publicly if there were anone from the club still at home!

Rob Cross won his age group with a 9th place finish, a position he largely held throughout the race. His time was 26:31. Rob was followed by John Mulvihill in 14th place, who similarly held a top 15 position throughout the race and picked off another runner with half a mile to go. John’s time was 27:07. Ciaran Diviney was next only 3 places behind John in 17th and finishing in a PB time of 27:16 and 4th place in his age category. Top 50 places went to Frank Halligan (28th in 28:08), Niall O’Connell (45th in a PB time of 29:17) and Joe McDermott (49th in a time just 4 secs off his PB in 29:32). Joe Walsh (60th in 29:53) and Eddie Nugent (73rd in 30:32) were able to finish in the top 100 also, along with Ilona McElroy, still with a niggling ankle injury but able to place 6th female and 84th overall in a creditable time of 30:53. Among the later runners, Nina Holmes acquitted herself well with 208th place overall, 23rd female, in 34:50, whilst Michael Fitzsimons demonstrated that he is returning to form, placing 110th in 32:01 and there was also a top 150th placing for David Killion (144th in 33:12). Fiona Bane ran in the race but her time was not recorded and she disposed of her number before the error was discovered. Finally, John Fitzsimons was able to take 3rd in the O/70 category, despite being only 2 months away from his 80th birthday, with a time of 53:01 (1,508th).

On Sunday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar joined a field of more than 700 runners, including a couple from the club, in the Castleknock 5K. He finished in a time of about 28 mins, although his result appears not to have been recorded. The course was quite challenging with a nice downhill section for the first mile but a really tough last 800m up Knockmaroon Hill, finishing in the grounds of Castleknock College. The two club-mates who competed in the race were Frank Hague who came home in 7th spot (18:24) and Donal Foley who placed 67th in 22:33.

Also, on Sunday, Bob Cahill took part in the local Kildare marathon (the first running of the Thoroughbred Run Kildare), and in his second marathon in as many weeks he placed 2nd out of 100 runners in 3:03:48. On the flat course, Bob was leading at the half way mark but found the last quarter of the 2 lap race tough in the hot weather (despite the race having started at 8:30). So, this was his second 2nd place finish inside of 15 days.

On Thursday, in the UK, Leo Lundy took on the Dorney Lake ultra in and around the Olympic rowing venue in Buckinghamshire. It was a hot oppressive day at 27 degrees and his 28.8 miles was good enough for 8th out of 83 finishers (6:15:58). On Sunday on the hottest day of the year in the UK so far (30 degrees) he took on the Hampshire Hoppit which was a hilly nearly 800m of climb) off-road trail marathon in and around the Test Valley and Watership Down areas in North Hampshire. Leo reported that it was survival at the end of a 150+ mile week.

On the track, Matthew Behan achieved two European U/23 qualifying times in the 110m hurdles in the England U/23 and U/20 championships over the weekend. He completed an excellent two days by taking third place in Sunday's final in a time of 14.34. Many congratulations to him.

Mairin Shine reported that she and John Fitzsimons ran in the Raheny Shamrocks-organised Tommy Lynam 2 mile run on Sunday and both won their respective age categories. In a small field of 31 runners, John ran the distance in 17:32 and Mairin, 17:52.

Finally, in the parkruns we had the usual participants, as well as a few newcomers to the event, and some excellent results. Matt Cranley joined 305 other runners in St. Anne’s Raheny to place 18th in 19:53. Matt was followed by Phelim Murray (35th in 21:34), Denis Murphy (37th in 21:54), Sarah Lyons (64th overall, 7th female, in 23:22) and Aoife Quinn, making her way back to form steadily after her knee operation (159th overall, 38th female, in 28:08). Ciara McElligott was our sole representative in the 111-strong field in Naas, placing 87th overall, 32nd female, in 32:13, as was Sharon Woods, who placed 50th overall, 9th female, in a time of 25:16, in Tymon, among a field of 134 participants. Similarly, Maria Pertl took on Poppintree on her own, placing 55th overall out of nearly 100 runners (22nd female), in a time of 28:41. Our best result of the day went to Daniel Lowe who was first finisher in Lough Key. Daniel came in ahead of 144 other runners in a time of 18:20. Colm Kernan was also a lone runner for the club in Ballincollig, placing 6th in 20:09. The field measured 264 runners. Darina Scully and Mairead Cashman took on the 84-strong Bushy Dublin field with Darina coming home in 20th place overall (3rd woman finisher) in 23:38 and Mairead Cashman finished in 50th place overall, 15th woman, in 28:55. In Cabinteely, our 6 runners finished as follows: In a field of nearly 90 runners, Dave Carter came home in 2nd place in 19:42, followed by Colm Foley (19th in 23:14), Gavan Doherty (25th in 23:28), Lisa Shine (72nd overall, 25th woman, in 30:29), Orlaith de Burca (73rd overall, 26th woman, in 30;30) and Mairin Shine(78th overall, 28th woman, in 32:07). Lastly, Olwyn Dunne attended a parkrun international conference in Berkhamsted and took part in a parkrun in Tring…but she walked the hilly course!